Investigation on pollen grain quantity and pollen in vitro germination characteristics in Prunus mume

The numbers of pollen grains per anther for 44 P.mume cultivars and the rates of pollen germination in vitro for 41 P.mume cultivars were determined,and the effects of such factors as culture fluids and stages of collecting pollen grains on the pollen germination were compared.The results indicated that the numbers of pollen grains per anther varied greatly among the cultivars,and the variation range was between 0～11 083.The culture fluids had a rather great effect on the pollen germination,and the appropriate culture fluid for most cultivars was 10% sucrose + 0.01% boric acid.There were very great differences in pollen germination rate between different cultivars,the highest rate was 85.4% and the lowest was 0.11%.Generally,the pollen grains in culture fluid started germinating after 30 min at 25 ℃,and their pollen tubers reached the longest after 6 h.There was no significant difference in the germination rate between the pollen grains collected at early flowering stage and those collected in full bloom stage.There was a certain positive correlation between the pollen germination rate and the pollen plumpness and pollen quantity.